Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the Everglades, and the challenge is part of initiative to remove them

The winner of this year’s annual Florida Python Challenge hunted down and eliminated 96 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades national park, as part of an initiative to remove hundreds of the snakes from the area every year.

The challenge invites hunters to participate in 10 days of capturing and humanely euthanizing as many of the invasive snakes as possible across eight designated hunting locations, with the winner taking home a cash prize of $10,000. The event is hosted by Florida fish, wildlife and conservation (FWC), the south Florida water management district, the National Park Service and others.

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Two senior engineers are leaving company to launch startup amid fears Google is falling behind in AI race

Sir Demis Hassabis is stepping down as chief executive of Google DeepMind, in a leadership overhaul of the UK-based AI research lab.

Hassabis, a Nobel prize recipient, is leaving his main managerial role to become chair of DeepMind – as well as taking on the new position of chief scientist at Alphabet, which is Google’s parent company. DeepMind will now be led by Koray Kavukcuoglu, its chief technology officer, under the title of senior vice-president.

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The 20-year-old’s third calf is being monitored by officials as survival rates for the species are challenging, the zoo said

The Toronto Zoo has announced the birth of a female pygmy hippo calf.

Kindia, the zoo’s 20-year-old pygmy hippo, started showing signs of labor at around 8.15am last Sunday, it said. Around four hours later, the calf’s feet emerged and after 1.5 hours of active labor, Kindia successfully gave birth to the baby pygmy hippo.

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A heartwarming and intimate family moment captured among the Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) at Artis Zoo, Amsterdam.

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Brolga
Grus rubicunda
Gruidae
One of the most obvious features of the Brolga’s behaviour is its courtship display, an elaborate dance. The dance begins with a pair of birds picking up grass, tossing it into the air and catching it again. This is followed by the birds repeatedly leaping a metre into the air with wings outstretched, followed by stretching their necks upwards, bowing to one another, bobbing their heads, walking about and calling. Sometimes the dance is done alone or in a group, with the birds lining up opposite one another.
Description: The Brolga is a large grey crane, with a featherless red head and grey crown. The legs are grey and there is a black dewlap under the chin. Females are shorter than males. The energetic dance performed by the Brolga is a spectacular sight. Displays may be given at any time of the year and by birds of any age.
Similar Species: The Sarus Crane, G. antigone, another species of crane found in Australia, can be identified by its dull pink legs and the red of its head extending down the neck.
Distribution: The Brolga is found across tropical northern Australia, southwards through north-east and east central areas, as well as central New South Wales to western Victoria.
Habitat: The Brolga inhabits large open wetlands, grassy plains, coastal mudflats and irrigated croplands and, less frequently, mangrove-studded creeks and estuaries. It is less common in arid and semi-arid regions, but will occur close to water.
Feeding: Brolgas are omnivorous (feeding on both vegetable and animal matter), but primarily feed upon tubers and some crops. Some insects, molluscs, amphibians and even mice are also taken.
Breeding: Brolgas probably mate for life, and pair bonds are strengthened during elaborate courtship displays, which involve much dancing, leaping, wing-flapping and loud trumpeting. An isolated territory is established, and is vigorously defended by both partners. The white (blotched with brown and purple) eggs are laid in a single clutch. The nest is a large mound of vegetation on a small island in a shallow waterway or swamp. Both adults incubate the eggs and care for the young birds.
(Source: www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/brolga)
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De FIFA-baas wist tijdens een spoedvergadering het volledige bestuur achter zich te krijgen en blijft voorlopig aan als voorzitter. Maar het is de vraag of het de storm van kritiek tot bedaren brengt.

Weer voor Rotterdam 🌕 - 06-08-2026 01:15 CEST

In één oogopslag:
• 20.6°C · Helder 🌕 | Min 20.7°C / Max 25.4°C | Kans op neerslag 3%

Verwachting voor vandaag:
• Min 20.7°C, Max 25.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 3%, 🧭 1019.9 hPa ↗️ +3.5 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 25.2 km/u (7.0 m/s), richting: ↗ 237°

Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:

• 02:00: 20.4°C (Helder) 🌕, 🧭 1016.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 18.7 km/u (5.2 m/s), richting: ↗ 235°
• 03:00: 20.3°C (Helder) 🌕, 🧭 1016.5 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 13.3 km/u (3.7 m/s), richting: ↗ 241°
• 04:00: 20.1°C (Helder) 🌕, 🧭 1016.7 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 10.1 km/u (2.8 m/s), richting: ↗ 244°
• 05:00: 20.3°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1016.9 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 7.2 km/u (2.0 m/s), richting: ↘ 327°
• 06:00: 19.9°C (Helder) 🌕, 🧭 1017.4 hPa ↗️ +0.5 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 10.1 km/u (2.8 m/s), richting: ↘ 298°
• 07:00: 19.6°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ⛅, 🧭 1017.9 hPa ↗️ +0.5 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 11.2 km/u (3.1 m/s), richting: ↘ 298°
• 08:00: 20.2°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌤️, 🧭 1018.3 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 12.6 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: → 289°
• 09:00: 20.7°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1018.8 hPa ↗️ +0.5 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 14.4 km/u (4.0 m/s), richting: → 284°
• 10:00: 21.3°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1019.4 hPa ↗️ +0.6 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 14.4 km/u (4.0 m/s), richting: → 277°
• 11:00: 21.5°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌤️, 🧭 1019.9 hPa ↗️ +0.5 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 16.9 km/u (4.7 m/s), richting: → 278°
• 12:00: 22.0°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1020.4 hPa ↗️ +0.5 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 17.3 km/u (4.8 m/s), richting: → 279°
• 13:00: 22.4°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1020.7 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 17.6 km/u (4.9 m/s), richting: → 272°

Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:

• vrijdag 07 augustus: Min 18.5°C, Max 22.9°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ⛅, 🧭 1022.7 hPa ↗️ +2.8 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 19.1 km/u (5.3 m/s), richting: → 283°
• zaterdag 08 augustus: Min 17.3°C, Max 24.5°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 4%, 🧭 1020.2 hPa ↘️ -2.5 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 13.0 km/u (3.6 m/s), richting: ↘ 337°
• zondag 09 augustus: Min 16.6°C, Max 26.2°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1014.6 hPa ↘️ -5.6 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 11.7 km/u (3.2 m/s), richting: ← 102°
• maandag 10 augustus: Min 18.1°C, Max 30.3°C (Zonnig) ☀️, Kans op neerslag 3%, 🧭 1016.0 hPa ↗️ +1.4 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 11.1 km/u (3.1 m/s), richting: ↖ 155°
• dinsdag 11 augustus: Min 17.3°C, Max 24.7°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 5%, 🧭 1023.0 hPa ↗️ +7.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 17.7 km/u (4.9 m/s), richting: → 283°
• woensdag 12 augustus: Min 15.9°C, Max 23.6°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ⛅, 🧭 1022.5 hPa ↘️ -0.5 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 12.1 km/u (3.4 m/s), richting: ← 70°

Details:
• 🌡️ Huidige temperatuur (om 01:15): 20.6°C (Helder)
• 🤚 Gevoelstemperatuur: 19.5°C (-1.1°C)
• 💨 Windsnelheid: 20.5 km/u (5.7 m/s), richting: ↗ 233°
• 🌬️ Windstoten: 38.5 km/h (10.7 m/s)
• 💧 Luchtvochtigheid: 73%
• 🧭 Luchtdruk: 1016.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/3h
• 👁️ Zichtbaarheid: 18.2 km
• ☀️ UV-index: 0.0
• 🌅 Zonsopgang: 06:10 · 🌇 Zonsondergang: 21:25

Luchtkwaliteit:
• AQI: 37 🟢 (Goed)
• PM2.5: 5.9 μg/m³
• PM10: 14.8 μg/m³

Gegevens geleverd door Open-Meteo

#Rotterdam #Meteo #MeteoBot #MeteoNetherlands #OpenMeteo #FediMeteo

Meta has launched Muse Code, its first AI coding agent that's positioned as a lower-cost rival to Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's Codex. It offers pay-as-you-go pricing and an optional zero-data-retention feature for enterprise users. CNBC reports: Muse Code is the latest major release from AI chief Alexandr Wang, who leads Meta Superintelligence Labs and oversees foundation model development. Wang joined in June of last year as the centerpiece of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's effort to revamp his company's flailing artificial intelligence strategy. "You can install it with one command and then use it to take on complete software engineering tasks across a wide variety of use cases, planning changes, writing code, validating the results," Wang said in an interview on Wednesday.

[...] The new tool, like Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's Codex assistants, makes it easier for people to build apps within a single user interface while managing fleets of AI-powered digital agents that can help underpin the software development process. Muse Code, available in a preview version, works alongside the company's latest AI model, Muse Spark 1.2. Wang declined to share user statistics related to the company's Muse Spark AI models, but said "adoption has been exciting and strong." The latest Muse Spark model was developed and trained alongside Muse Code, which Wang said improves the overall coding performance.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Security researchers found that Apple's iCloud Private Relay can expose users' real IP addresses because some passkey-related requests bypass Safari and its proxy protections at the operating-system level. "In short: any website that supports, or pretends to support, passkeys can see the user's real IP address despite having iCloud Private Relay on," security researcher Tommy Mysk, who discovered the issue along with Talal Haj Bakry, told 404 Media. The flaws also affect OnionBrowser, an iOS app for browsing the web through the Tor anonymity network. It does not, however, impact the official Tor Browser itself. From the report: The researchers developed a site that lets Private Relay users check if the issues impact them. In 404 Media's tests, the site did return the real IP address of a user that was supposed to be protected by Private Relay.

[...] In a quirk of how passkeys work -- a broadly secure alternative to usernames and passwords which use the WebAuthn standard -- a user's device makes a web request outside of the browser itself. Meaning, that request essentially bypasses Private Relay and exposes a user's real IP address, even though to them it may look like they are simply interacting with a website as normal.

"Because the fetch is issued by the operating system's credential service rather than by Safari, it never enters Private Relay's proxied path. The destination server sees the device's real IP address either way," the researchers write in their research. [...] "We have already informed them. They said the issue was âdire,' but they let us disclose the issue. They didn't provide any time when they will address this," Mysk said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Last October, programmer and co-author of Vibe Coding Steve Yegge (very previously) introduced beads, an issue tracker for LLMs.
In January, he announced Gas Town, a scheme for managing a team of LLMs. This went moderately viral, and as of May the concept had expanded to become Gas City and an ideal of of The Wasteland, a sea of interconnected Gas Towns and Cities. (Visit the town hall.)
Now, Yegge has written two new essays. In "The Continuous Thunderdome" he states that Gas Town was functionally useless and outlines his new vision. In "Model Welfare For Agentic Engineers" he takes the poorly-defended position that LLMs are sentient and describes how that informs managing them.

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Kokura Castle (小倉城, Kokurajō) was built in 1602 at the beginning of the Edo Period. The castle was destroyed by fire in 1866, and the current castle tower is a ferro-concrete reconstruction from 1959. The castle's traditional architecture provides an interesting visual contrast to the neighboring modern shopping and entertainment center.

The castle grounds are now known as Katsuyama Park and are a popular cherry blossom spot that is usually in bloom around early April. The castle keep seems to have four floors from the outside, but actually has five on the inside. The modern interior introduces the local history with displays, an interactive zone and a small theater where visitors can get a hands-on and visual experience of past castle life. The castle's top floor offers panoramic views over the city.